The present invention relates generally to an apparatus that alerts and warns a user of an appliance such as a stove or oven, either visually, audibly or by some other sensory means, that a cooking process has been initiated and requires monitoring and attention. Over a cyclic period of time the user, such as a cook, is signaled to return to the appliance and the cooking process, and hence to the source of combustion (i.e. the stove top burners, the oven, broiler, etc.) until the cooking process is completed or otherwise terminated. In this way, the risk of accidental damage which may arise due to overheating, combustion and possible kitchen fire due to an unattended cooking process is greatly reduced.
Every year, thousands of people are killed or injured in house fires. Some current statistics indicate that deaths from fires and burns are the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury and deaths in the United States and the third leading cause of fatal home injury. Sources indicate that in 2006 fire departments responded to 412,500 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,580 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 12,925, not including firefighters. Some statistics and sources also indicate that 4 out of 5 fire deaths in 2005 occurred in residences and that cooking was the primary cause of these fires. Often, for example, cooking related fires are caused by unattended utensils which may be left on heating elements or gas flames. A common scenario involves an elderly person who initiates a cooking procedure and then forgets that food is cooking because of distractions such as a long telephone conversation; disease (Alzheimer's is an example), other impairment or just simple forgetfulness and absent-mindedness. Furthermore, unattended food left cooking on a burner may dry and overheat, and this scenario can lead to combustion and smoke. If cooking oil is involved, combustion can quickly result and produce an uncontrollable fire in very little time.
One solution to this problem is an inexpensive apparatus that (1) directly detects a person's or user's presence in front of a cooking appliance before a cooking procedure is initiated, (2) automatically monitors a user's attention to the cooking process, and (3) automatically warns with an alarm or other signal the user if the cooking process is left unattended.
Some U.S. patents which relate to safety devices in this area are mentioned below. Naugle (U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,669) describes a sensing apparatus for monitoring the operation of an electrical appliance. Nashawaty (U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,455) describes an alarm system for use in a stove having a burner and control device for turning the burner on and off the burner, including an audio/visual alarm device and an alarm circuit for activating the alarm device. Lipscher (U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,181) describes an alarm system for an electric range which detects when a burner is energized without a utensil in place on the burner.
Ekblad (U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,913) describes a control device for controlling the operation of an object of cooking such as a stove or the like. The presence of a user in the area of the stove is detected. When the user is present, the stove operation is enabled. Sciscoe (U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,427) describes a temperature alarm for attachment around the exterior of the flue pipe of a wood-burning or similar stove, with alarm activation temperature selected by slidable adjustment along the flue pipe. Ljunggren (U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,701) describes an arrangement in a range, a cooking hob or the like having at least one electrically heated hot plate and/or oven, comprising a manually operable setting system for the setting of a desired power or temperature for the hot plate or the oven.
McLean (U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,378) describes a fire-preventing warning system for alerting an occupant leaving the premises that a stove burner is on. Neil (U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,383) describes an automatic temperature alarm system for alerting an operator of a heated apparatus that the apparatus has been heated and untouched for an excessive period of time. Clizbe (U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,245) describes an integral electric range surface burner control switch user interface made up of two components. Vaillancourt (U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,188) describes a safety device for electric stoves and ovens. Devries (U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,992) describes a safety apparatus for electric appliances which includes a sensor for sensing that an electric appliance is operating. An alarm coupled with the sensor. Cheng (U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,017) describes an electric or gas burner that can be improved by the installation of an automated fire safety device that first determines whether the burner is being attended. Rak (U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,413) describes a safety device for use in conjunction with an electric cooking stove. Aldridge (U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,620) describes a device for disconnecting an electric appliance or a component thereof from a source of electricity. Hoellerich (U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,994) describes an attendance monitoring apparatus for an appliance, such as an electrical appliance. Klass (U.S. Pat. No. 7,002,109) describes an invention to assure the safety in use of an electric range.